Thursday, February 19, 2015

Pastoral Parables: The Gate to the Sheepfold ~ John 10:1-10

Although John, the evangelist, was a
faithful narrator, we do not know the place or moment when Christ
spoke these parables. The Jews could not at their will get rid of
Christ or keep Him from speaking. He most likely withdrew to the hills
of Judea wandering among those of the pastoral life. John makes it
clear it was in the autumn that Christ resumed to the countryside of
Judea, teaching in parables which he had taught in Galilee. We view an enticing sketch of the
customs connected between the sheepfold, and the intimacy which
reigns between the shepherd and the flock: two tableaux of which each
presents its own comparison, the gate to the sheepfold, and the
shepherd.

"He that entereth in by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep."

John 10:1-5

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the
sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a
robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep.

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. When he hath
put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him: for they know his voice.

And a stranger will they not follow,
but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what
things they were which he spake unto them."

Christ traces the tableau
of this scene with a simple art such that one would be tempted to say
that He had practiced this way of life. All the flocks of a village
or clan were grouped together and shut in for the night behind a
fenced enclosure, which had a porter as its guardian. On occasion,
thieves would merely jump over the fence, snatch a few animals, and
move on.

Contrast this behavior
with that of the shepherd of his own flock, who, upon opening the
gate, calls to the animals by name, each one hears the voice of the
shepherd and comes to him. They follow him; whereas they will not
follow a stranger.

Christ could find no
better fruitful terrain on which to build His expositions in order to
reach His listeners. It was in the best quality of allegory, in
conformity with color of the environment, accessible to the more
educated, and the lesser, of the Judeans. He was able to draw, to
the profit of His disciples, precious lessons upon His role, of His
attitude, of the communion which should be established between Him
and them.

The crowd, or flock,
forms but one reality with its Pastor, now gathered around Him;
nevertheless, the listeners fail to comprehend this profound meaning.
It is not the literal that escapes them, for they understood well
the pastoral life; it was the spiritual significance attached to
these humble things, and the application which Christ makes of them.

John tells us that such
then was the subject of the parable which Jesus laid before them, but
they did not grasp what it was concerning which he conversed with
them. This is why, once again, He declared to them:

John 10:7-10

"Jesus therefore
said unto them again, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door
of the sheep. All that came before me are thieves and robbers:
but the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door; by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall
find pasture.

The thief cometh not, but that he
may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and
may have [it] abundantly.' "

The gate to the sheepfold is, of
itself alone, a mysterious symbol to those who are outside of the
fold. Christ tells us, I, I have
come so that it might have life... all that I have gathered,
sheep and shepherds, are called to receive this Life procured by Him
who, being the Gate to the fold, is also its refuge. It is through
Him that it proceeds to pasturage.

If Christ is the sheepfold, he is also the
Shepherd. The gate, I am the gate, He
says.

But who are the intruders, the thieves?
Surely not the prophets or good Kings of the past, neither the
scribes, nor the Pharisees. Christ, more probably, was not looking
behind Him, based on preachings of His imminent death. He was more likely speaking of pseudo-messiahs who, without Godly authority, force themselves
into the fold, and present themselves as such to the death, achieving the massacre of many thousands, slaughtering
sheep, in the name of religion.

In essence, they ravage His Flock. Is
this not happening in present day with the persecution of His believers?